It is one frequently asked topic in Indian schools and colleges. You can get “Adult education in India” topic in exams too. It is one of the common topics in various essay and speech competitions. Though content given here is in essay format, with little modifications you can use it for speech, group discussions or debate too. You can also practice the paragraph writing with this content. This essay is written for school students of class 6,7,8,9,10 etc. You can simplify the language of the content to make it suitable for small kids of class 1,2,3,4,5 etc. So, jump to the essay itself, shall we?

Essay on Adult Education in India, Benefits, and Importance

Adult education is an option for adults who didn’t get the opportunity of farming education and cross the normal age of formal education but still feel the need for learning basic education, skill development, or vocational education. The Indian government is promoting adult education in various ways. National literacy mission which was founded in 1988 operates to promote adult education in India.

According to 2001 census, male literacy in India was 75.26% and comparatively low female literacy was 53.67%. It shows that there is a big gender discrepancy in literacy in India. India has made a remarkable improvement in adult education in 2011, it was 64.84%, it is grown by 8.1% to 72.98% in 2011. The female literacy rate for last decade was 10.96%.

Along with government institutions social workers, NGOs are also trying to improve the adult education in India. The government needs to improve the public-private partnership in this area. As female literacy rate in India is considerably lower than male literacy rate Indian government needs to take partnerships with various self-help women groups and women-focused NGOs. Though present adult literacy rates are good considering the population of India and the facilities available government needs to more efforts in adult education. This adult education can, directly and indirectly, participate in nation-building.

Adult education policymakers in India also need to consider the various aspects of illiterate adults. Most of them work in a day in that case night schools are the best options. Presently we saw that Indian government under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership taking advantage of various social platforms for the awareness of different schemes and missions, they should also consider this option in adult education awareness. As we know that India is country emotions so emotional campaign needs to be designed which should touch the minds and brains of Indians, it will work better in Indian perspective. It is necessary to target the educated children of these illiterate parents, who will convince their parents and can also help them in the basic education. There is one more important thing in adult education in India is it should not be a mere a government scheme, there is a greater need for involvement of people and technology.

Benefits and Importance of Adult education in India

When one goes for a job, the first thing employer asks is education and skills. To get a good job one needs to have at least basic education and awareness of the surrounding world. In absence of this, a big section of adults goes in manual work. These types of job generally involve hard work and very less pay. These less educated or illiterate workers get employed in nonorganized industries which don’t give them basic facilities and protection. Adults education will help them in finding a comparatively better job, they will be aware of their rights at the workplace which will lead to the secure work environment and better payments. This directly affects the various situations like children education, living standards and health care and other important aspects of daily life.

Adult education program can help them in managing daily life situations too. If they read newspapers, fill in application forms, call customer care etc it will help them a bit in being independent. If they taught about basic finance, then they can manage their earning better. They can opt for insurance etc thus safeguarding their and family. Adult education makes them confident, with which they can improve their and their family’s life. So adult education is very important in India.

Skill Development

Along with basic maths and science knowledge, adult education should also focus on Skill Development. A job-focused training will be more fruitful for them, and it will a great reason for them to join the adult education program. The adult education program should also encourage them to take vocational courses too, this will increase their job prospects. Adult education courses should also teach them about self-employment and basics of business. With gained experience and confidence, they can start something on their own too.

Education is more than just textbooks.

Learning is lifetime activity, it is not limited to textbooks only. Life is the biggest university and they have already lived enough through it. Adult education should be designed in such way that it will make use of their experience in work and life. They are not small children, so techniques and books used for kids will not work efficiently with them. A new curriculum, language, and practical approach should be considered for adult education.

Awareness of Adult Education

First and most important thing is awareness of the program. It is good to see hat government agencies are using various social media, TV channels, Celebrities to promote the various missions and schemes of the government of India. Same strategies can also be adopted for adult education in India.

Target Children

In marketing it very important to know who your target audience is. In this case, it will more efficient if awareness campaign focuses on children of illiterate adults. They tend to have good or at least basic education, they watch TV, YouTube, use Social media and internet, so it will be easy to reach them. Children can easily convince their parent for adult education and can also help them to stay on track. It is just the reverse of how educated parent helps their children in education, projects, assignment, and homework.

Language Barrier

As we know India is like a continent where country sized states are bonded together. We have different languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Bangla, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and more. Adult education curriculum needs to be adapted as per local flavour, so it will be easy for students.

Online Programs

Now we have good internet infrastructure than before, and it is improving. The Indian government is connecting every gram panchayat with a broadband network. Adult education institutions and National literacy mission should take advantage of this facility. Online courses can be designed which are cost-effective and can reach more people. It will help the government to reach more people and save a big cost, which can be used for further development of the program.

Research in Adult Education

Policy makers and Indian Literacy program should invest more in research. New methods to reach and enrol adults, new ways to engage with them needs to be researched. It should also focus on overall aspects of adult education, not just curriculum. There will no use of all these efforts if adult just gets a literacy certificate. After completion of the program, they should feel confident and should able to perform better at work or improve their personal and family life. If courses are designed and implemented well these adults can contribute better in national progress.

Classroom Setting

Most of these adults will be working so adult education program should be flexible. It should available in the night batches. These adults may not find a typical classroom setup comfortable as they passed such age. A flexible approach should be taken to make them comfortable in classes. Sessions should not be monotonous, it must be interactive and engaging.

Conclusion

There is a big population in India which didn’t get the chance to complete the formal education and enjoy the benefits of it. Because of this, they tend to work in unorganized sectors with no prevalent facilities, security, and salary. A well planned, well designed and implemented adult education program can help them to be confident and work in the safe and equal environment. This will also help them in a day to day life situations too.

I hope you like this article. If this article helps you in any way then please rate this article and let us know your thoughts in comment section below. Thank you. 🙂

About the author

Ajay Chavan

Hey guys! I am Ajay Chavan, a small town guy walking down the path to my dream. A hell-bent person who never gives up.
I love to write about stuff that makes a difference in someone's life.
And Hey! I am also the Co-Founder and COO of TeenAtHeart.